Title: The Terrace Room at the Lake Merritt Hotel
Author: GCS
Last saved by: ENU

The Terrace Room @Lake Merritt Hotel in Oakland, CA – update, dinner
http://www.theterraceroom.com/go/our-menu/dinner/
Review date: October 2013
(previous reviews appended below)

We have not been to The Terrace Room in some years. We visited for dinner on December 2008, which was fair to good; and brunch on December 2009, which was disappointing. But in 2012, a friend of ours moved into the Lake Merritt Hotel, so it seemed a good time to return for dinner. We invited her to join us, and she did so.

Slightly faded but retaining echoes of its once-stylish grace, The Terrace Room is the former dinner club space of this classic Art Deco hotel, which has been turned into independent senior living apartments. This room commands a very fine view of Lake Merritt, which is a whole lot better to look nowadays at than the stagnant, polluted pond it was when we first moved to Oakland in 1989. The Lake has been cleaned up, ringed with light strings, aerated by a small fountain pump, and opened up to the Bay again, which is bringing the wildllife slowly back – recently the first river otter was seen visiting the Lake in decades (http://www.sfgate.com/Otter-signals-Lake-Merritt-comeback).

Although the carpeting on the stairs may be a little frayed, the pastel wall murals that give The Terrace Room its nostalgic beauty remain – a vista of the Oakland Hills frozen in time, painted in 1956 by Andre Boratko (story on the hotel's website: http://www.thelakemerritt.com/history.html). The dining room has that great retro feel. If you don't mind dining early (they don't stay open very late) it's worth a visit just for the atmosphere and décor. 

We especially like The Terrace Room in winter, as the days grow short. You can eat early while it's still daylight, watch the hills turn color at sunset, and a half hour later, it's dark and you see the ring of lights around the Lake turn on and get reflected in the waters. It's a lovely, magical sight.

There are different cooks in the kitchen from when we were last here, and they skillfully handle the dishes offered. The food is not fancy in concept, but neither is it fashionably scant. Every plate has a starch, a meat, and a vegetable. As The Terrace Room is the dining room for the senior facility residents, they are careful about excess salt, leave off the rich sauces, and they cook their vegetables to that perfect in-between where it's not mushy or unpleasantly half-raw. There is not only a section of salads but also a separate section of main-dish salads, and in both categories you can get a small size or a large size.

I ordered a small strawberry salad, which was described as mixed greens, goat cheese, sliced almonds, fresh strawberries and a strawberry vinaigrette. The lettuce mix was excellent quality, similar to the one I buy at home with baby red and green ruffled lettuces. The vinaigrette was superb, one of the best I've had anywhere, and in just the right amount tossed with the leaves, leaving no excess dripping on the plate. The greens, goat cheese and almonds were a fine combination, and the addition of a few slices of ripe strawberry was a nice touch.

Carlos ordered the tomato-basil soup, which he said was spicy – not chile spicy, but with lots of herbs he couldn't identify (I didn't try it). He liked it very much. He also had a small shrimp Louie salad, which he said was okay although the shrimp were a touch iodinous.

For his entrée he picked the lamb sirloin with mashed potatoes and green beans. It was nicely handled, but it should be noted that the kitchen tends to cook towards the "medium" side, not the medium-rare to rare level that we prefer. The Terrace's kitchen can do a good rare doneness, as proved by my flat-iron steak, but you need to specifically ask that the meat be done more to the rare side. The meat comes with a good crust and the au jus was excellent, enhanced by a touch of Cabernet and cassis (black current liqueur). He enjoyed this dish and finished off everything. 

I chose the flat iron steak with roasted diced potatoes, along with diced baby zucchini and sliced sautéed mushrooms. Mine had a simpler au jus but again, everything was well executed. The steak was tender and full of flavor, so I was also happy with my plate. We've gone to expensive steak houses that have done a much poorer job on their lamb and steak than The Terrace Room showed us this evening.

Inez got the pork tenderloin with fresh peach salsa, mashed potatoes and green beans. It was a generous serving, and she loves meat and fruit together. She did have to leave most of the mashed potatoes, however. We didn't realize we could have ordered her a half-portion size; the option isn't listed on the menu but many of the elderly residents choose it.

The Terrace Room falls down somewhat on desserts. The crème brulee is good, and our friend chose ice cream. Carlos wanted the bread pudding but asked for extra bourbon in the caramel sauce. They dutifully obliged him, and it packed quite a wallop, improving the soft but not custardy square considerably. My cheesecake, however, was a little too marshmallow-y for my preferences, with an over-thick crust. But the coffee is Peerless, one of the better local old-time choices, and they make it properly strong. Both decaf and regular were fine.

Overall we were very pleased with our dinner at The Terrace Room. It's a wonderful old-style room, with pleasant and attentive waitstaff who seem a bit better trained than previously. The view is unexcelled, day or night, and all the entrées were executed with more consistency and skill than a good many flashier new restaurants we've gone to. 

Although it doesn't have the more up-to-date menu of Paradiso/San Leandro or Bistro 1491/Albany, we feel that diners are far better served when a kitchen executes good basic dishes well, than to produce a fashionable menu poorly/erratically (such as, for instance, Homestead/Oakland). We would rank The Terrace Room as above Paradiso, but slightly below 1491.

The food at The Terrace Room has climbed a full notch compared to our previous visits. If they can keep it up, they'll stay on our list as one of the "B+" restaurants. Improve those desserts, and they would make it onto our "A" list.

Yes, the street parking here is hideous, so that's a slight minus in their ranking. But it's hideous on College Avenue and Piedmont Avenue as well, and it's no more difficult than downtown Berkeley on a Saturday evening (well, except for the fact there's no public garage easily available near this part of the Lake). 

If you haven't ever been here, it's worth the visit. Most of these classic old dining rooms are gone, and who knows how much longer this one will survive? The Terrace Room is Oakland's bargain version of the Pied Piper Restaurant/SF, and we all know how close the Bay Area came to losing that priceless place forever. 

Here we had a good, modestly priced meal with excellent grilled meats and properly dressed salads; plus a great view and classy old surroundings. Diners are lucky that The Terrace Room is still around, so enjoy it while you can and the kitchen is executing well.

Three people, dinner (our friend Betty put her tab on her personal account): three starters, three entrées, three desserts, three beverages, with tip was a very modest $130.

Update: Terrace Room @Lake Merritt Hotel
Review date:  December 2009, Brunch
(first review appended below)

We needed a place for brunch on Boxing Day, but our favorite Montclair Bistro only serves brunch on Sundays. We chose to return to the Terrace Room to enjoy the scenic view with our good friends Bruce and Marge.

We had previously only come here for dinner, which we enjoyed although it’s more of a “B” level restaurant. But disappointingly, weekend brunch was mediocre at best, and the service wasn’t as good as it should have been. Far below the level of Montclair Bistro, and well below even what Terrace serves at dinner.

Carlos went back for a regular weekday lunch with some friends a few days later, and said his Shrimp Louie salad and cream soup were fine. So next time, we’ll know to stay away from weekend brunch, but it remains on our list for a simple, relatively inexpensive lunch or dinner with a great view in an old-fashioned, spacious dining room.

The Terrace Room at the Lake Merritt Hotel (dinner)
1800 Madison St, Oakland
http://lakemerritthotel.com/page/nyi4/The_Terrace_Room.html
 Review date:  December 2008

This old-time place has a new chef and there’s been some modest buzz about it. With the dearth of restaurants around Lake Merritt proper, we thought it worth a try.
 
Set right across the street from Lake Merritt, it has a perfectly spectacular view towards the hills, both day and night. Although the temptation is to get as close to the windows as possible, the small tables on the mezzanine are really the best viewing spots. The age of this dining room is evident from the fact it has a small two-level stage, perfect for a baby grand piano, along with the pastel murals on the walls showing what the view looked like sixty years ago. The bar is long gone, replaced with more small tables for dining.
 
It’s a hotel turned into senior housing, so they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch. It isn’t a large menu for any meal. Service is crisp, friendly, and professional.  
 
The dining room is not only beautiful, it is nicely old-fashioned with big tables and real space around them. Food was good – not trendy or three-star, but satisfying and extremely reasonable in price. 
 
There's talent in the kitchen, although the side dishes were a bit oversalted for my taste. When I mentioned this to the waiter half-way through dinner, he offered to take it back to the kitchen for them to do it over.
 
The tri-tip had a magnificent BBQ sauce with deep chipotle smokiness (my favorite chile). There was no sticky sweetness, but a gentle build of heat instead. The cabbage and onion side dish, sliced and sauteed, was delicious, making me wonder why I never remember to make my cabbage at home with onions, when they go so well together!
 
The gorgonzola fries, however, were disappointing compared to Palomino’s superlative version. Just crumbled, over-salty gorgonzola dumped over the fries, without running them through a hot oven to melt the cheese.
 
Inez had a shrimp and penne pasta dish that was a huge serving, with sun-dried tomato cream sauce. Carlos had the NY steak, not Prime quality but very skillfully cooked with an excellent brown sauce and huge trumpet mushrooms (they seem to be the "mushroom of choice" these days; we've been encountering them everywhere). We started with the flatbread special of the night, a mini-pizza with bacon, gorgonzola cheese and carmelized onions - very good and twice as big as we thought it would be. It would be better shared between at least 4 people!
 
Desserts were plebian, however. Coffee wasn't too bad, but the busboys are not as well trained as they should be (left the appetizer plates on the table, brought cream for the coffee but not sugar). 
 
Prices were very modest: dinner and beverages for three, desserts for two, with tip was $121. We plan to come back again for dinner, and even try it for brunch someday, since I'm a breakfast freak and will go anywhere in search of a good breakfast!